This is naturally a question which is hot on so many people’s lips when it comes to considering working with a coach.
- How will professional coaching benefit me?
- What will I see as a return in our organization?
- What will I come away with?
- How can I track the time and financial investment?
For those who have been through coaching programmes before, or who have experienced a coaching session in some form (either in groups, workshops or 1:1), might have felt the benefits personally and therefore it becomes a more obvious solution.
But for those who haven’t experienced coaching or mentoring, either in their personal or professional lives, might not understand the powerful impact coaching can have in moving towards excellent customer service, enhanced team effectiveness, improved internal communication, refined productivity, and an increase in bottom line growth.
So how do you describe what the benefits to Professional Coaching are?
In answer, Tim Gallwey coined this simple and effective equation.
Performance = Potential – Interference
Coaching comes in many guises – business coaching, performance coaching, leadership coaching, team coaching, confidence coaching, resilience coaching, life coaching – but at the heart of all of them coaching is supporting people’s performance to reach their potential while overcoming interference which is getting in the way.
So, let’s work Tim Gallwey’s equation backwards.
What is potential?
The Oxford Dictionary defines the noun potential as “latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success”.
The qualities are in us as potential already. They simply need unmasking and developing, and navigating away from the interference.
What then might the interference be that is stopping us reaching our potential?
Mel Leedham (2017) states that interference can be referred to “lack of confidence, lack of motivation or clarity and focus, or perhaps a combination of all three”.
Fair enough.
I would add to that the influence of our persona (or ego), our worries about how the world perceives us, old beliefs we hold that no longer serve us, limiting narratives we bring from childhood, unawareness of our strengths and weaknesses, bringing a fixed perspective to our view of the world, an inability to see win-win resolutions, and not taking a considered principle-led response to how we show up in the world.
A coach’s role, therefore, is to support clients to gain increased clarity regarding a situation or topic by using techniques and methods to overcome the interference which enables them to make the progress they want.
As clients are able to start mastering their inner selves and overcome their interference, their peers, team, customers and organisations will benefit.
Taking a holistic view of the benefits of professional coaching, as well as looking at the return of investment as a measure, means looking at the unique aspects of what ‘interference’ means for an individual, team, or organisation.
To give you an analogy if we look at an oak tree. If the trunk is sturdy with deep roots and limited external interference, the tree will grow strong and flourish. It will create an interdependent ecosystem within nature and have a systemic effect on the environment around it.
With limited interference the oak tree will grow for years to come and reach it’s potential as it was designed to.
As with this analogy, humans are the same. Whether we are leaders, managers, employees or make up part of a team, once we start actively looking at where interference shows up in our daily lives, and how we can overcome it, we too can reach our potential and have a positive systemic effect on our ecosystems and environments around us.
Consider what your performance and life would be like in a workplace where you and your teams overcame your individual interferences?
Imagine what your customers would experience if the people within your organisation were working alongside each other towards a shared purpose, with the values of the business at the heart of how they behaved?
Imagine how strong your bottom-line growth might look with your teams were effective, motivated, and driven to succeed?
This is opportunity is yours to explore. The potential is within us all.
If you want to know more about how I can help you as a coach, get in touch by calling me on 07954 357 443 or emailing annabel@gonifascoaching.com. We can start working on overcoming what the interferences are that are holding you and your organisation back from reaching your potential and performing at your best.
